You’ve built something that a lot of people depend on.
We help you understand what could disrupt it, what it would actually cost, and what — if anything — to do about it.
The what-ifs every owner should be able to answer.
These are the questions that keep business owners up at night — and the ones most plans never quite answer.
If something happens to you
If you weren’t here, would the business survive?
Who runs it, who decides, and how long it can keep operating without you. Most owners have never tested it.
If I die, what happens to the value of the business I’ve built?
Much of a business’s value lives in its owner — relationships, know-how, reputation. We measure how much of it would leave with you.
Would there be a fire sale?
A forced sale on someone else’s timeline rarely brings full value. The real question is what your family would actually receive.
Is the business transferable — and at what value?
To a partner, a key employee, family or an outside buyer. Each path produces a different number.
Do I want my spouse or family running the business?
If not, the plan has to say who will — and how your family is paid fairly for what you built.
If something happens to a partner
Do I want to be in business with my partner’s spouse?
Without a funded agreement, that may be exactly what happens.
Is there a buy-sell agreement, and does it work?
There may be a document. The question is whether it does what everyone believes — and whether the money is there to carry it out.
Key people and liquidity
If a key person were gone, would the business survive?
Lost revenue, replacement cost, disrupted relationships, lender and customer confidence — what’s at stake is rarely just a salary.
Would there be enough cash to keep operating?
Payroll, debt payments and customers don’t pause while things get sorted out. We work out how much cash the business would need.
How do I attract and keep the leaders I can’t replace?
What would make staying more valuable than leaving — and what that costs the business.
Transition
How does the business pass to the next generation or the next owner?
Family, management, partners or an outside buyer — each path creates a different financial problem.
What happens if the planning never gets finished?
To the family, the employees, the partners and the value of the business itself. This is usually the number nobody has run.
If any of these keep you up at night, that’s where the first conversation starts.
Risk first. Product last.
Some situations need something sophisticated. Some just need what you already have fixed. Some need nothing at all. That’s a conclusion, not a starting assumption.
- 1DiscoverUnderstand where you are, where you want to go, and the risks that could get in the way.
- 2PlanWeigh the alternatives with the right expertise at the table, then decide together.
- 3ImplementPut the decision in place — only where something actually needs to change.
- 4ManageKeep watching it as your life, business and coverage change.
The cost of doing nothing
Most planning conversations start with how much insurance someone might need. We’d rather start with what it costs if the risk happens and nothing has been done.
Once you know what’s at stake in dollars, you can compare the options against something real.
- The financial impact of losing an owner — and the buyout it triggers
- The financial impact of losing a key person — including business debt that still has to be paid
- Business-value disruption during a transition
- An estate without enough cash on hand
- The cost of an underfunded succession plan
- The money it would take to replace lost income
The work behind the conversation
- Key person risk analysis
- Buy-sell and business continuity analysis
- Business succession analysis
- Life insurance needs analysis
- Executive benefit and retention analysis
- Existing insurance strategy review
Opinion is not expertise.
Everyone has an opinion about life insurance; few have the training and experience behind it. Financial risk management and life insurance are our expertise, not our opinion.
The policies behind your plan drift too.
Key-person coverage, buy-sell funding, executive benefit plans — each was bought for a plan that may have changed since. Amounts, ownership and beneficiaries can fall out of step with the agreement, and no one is watching.
If you’ve been presented with a new strategy, we evaluate it on its own terms — the assumptions, the economics, the design and the alternatives.
Start a conversation
The first conversation is to understand the situation and see whether we can help.
Start a Conversation